Peel Thunder have notched their 11th win of the year, running out 32-point winners in a highly anticipated match against Claremont at Rushton Park in Mandurah on Saturday.

The Thunder currently sit third on the WAFL ladder, with only percentage points separating the Thunder from second-placed Subiaco.

Ruckman Liam Reidy (two goals, 18 hitouts) and inside midfielder Will Brodie (29 disposals, 24 contested) dominated the midfield battle which allowed Peel to lead the inside 50s (46-38) for the day.

Forward Bailey Banfield (four goals) and key defender Joel Hamling (eight marks) were experienced additions to the lineup as Matt Taberner (two goals) continued his return to footy. Tom Emmett (24 disposals, four tackles) also had a breakout game.

The clash saw a tight and high-pressure contest in which Claremont kicked the first major of the game.

Taberner made his presence felt early, taking a contested mark to boot Peel’s first.

Team first footy opened up the ground giving Banfield his first of four goals as the already heated contest went up another level in the second quarter with both teams ramping up the pressure.

Reidy’s contested marks and impact around the ground were a standout in the low-scoring second term. The ruckman found Taberner inside forward 50 to get Peel off the mark in the second quarter.

Peel started strong after half time, putting immediate pressure on the Claremont defence through repeat inside 50s and cutting off any exits through intercept possessions.

Claremont were able to halt momentum for some minutes, but Peel’s defensive structures held strong to launch the side into attack for a Ben Middleton goal to open scoring in the second half.

Dominance in both possession and time in forward half gave Reidy an opportunity for his second major and the Thunder’s fourth on the trot.

Claremont hit back late with the ninth goal of the high scoring third term to limit Peel’s lead to 13 going into the last.

A scrappy start to the last quarter saw Claremont throw everything but the kitchen sink at Peel’s defence. 

With both teams hunting in packs to pressure the ball carrier, scoring dried up to start the final term.

Banfield extended Peel’s lead to 26 with his fourth goal from 40 meters out on a testing angle in front of a teal-painted crowd.

Peel's Brody Wemm kicked his second major in 10 minutes to put the cherry on top of an important 32-point victory for Peel, ensuring a finals appearance in 2023 for the Thunder.

Speaking post-game, Taberner highlighted the importance of Peel's experienced players this season.

“Joel (Hamling) has played in an AFL grand final, he’s great for our young backs like Hugh Davies, I know he’s been learning a lot from him," Taberner said.

“Trav Colyer’s been really good up forward, helping young forwards like Tommy Emmett.

“To (Banfield’s) credit he plays a lot taller than he probably is, he can do it in the air, he can do it on the ground.

“To be able to do it after missing a couple of weeks, to come back and play like he did, it looked like he hasn’t missed a game.”

Peel Senior Coach Geoff Valentine reflected on the hard-fought win.

“We wanted to be better than last time, there was parts of that game late where we needed to execute better but we didn’t get to that today, thankfully," Valentine said.

"(For us) typically it's around the contest and our team defence and we felt we could get that right.

“It’s been a really impressive turnaround over the past couple weeks, (Liam Reidy) was sort of battling a bit, he had some good moments and then some poor moments but these last two weeks he’s really been able to string together some really good performances.

“I thought with Will (Brodie) you know what you're going to get with him and I think he had 17 or 18 contested possessions in there.

"I thought his ability to combine with Benny Hancock, Hayden Mathews and young Clay Hall in there was really important.”

“Joel (Hamling) has played a lot of footy with us over the last couple of years and he almost feels like one of our own and I thought the way he was able to drop seamlessly into our back half, he took a couple of clutch marks down there for us and he is just a calm head down there."

Peel will host West Perth at Rushton Park next Saturday as they hope to continue their momentum into finals.

Peel Thunder 3.3 5.4 10.10 13.13 (91)
Claremont 2.3 4.7 8.9 8.11 (59)

Goals:
Peel Thunder B. Banfield 4, B. Middleton 3, L.Reidy, 2, M.Taberner 2, B.Wemm 2.
Claremont Z. Mainwaring 3, A. Manuel 2, S. Alvarez 1, T. Delacey 1, O.Eastland 1.